


Meeting you

by kilala2tail



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Introspection, Memories, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-02
Updated: 2014-12-02
Packaged: 2018-02-27 20:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2705468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kilala2tail/pseuds/kilala2tail
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I’ve met you so many times.<br/>Each one is important, don't you agree?"</p><p>The way I met you, huh? Which meeting, though?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meeting you

The way I met you the first time has long since been forgotten.

Was it by the playground at the park?

Was it down on the beach, near the water?

Was it the first week of our first year of school?

Was it when we were still too little to form memories?

That might be it.

Would explain why you’ve always been a part of my memory.

Would explain why you claim I’ve always been a part of your memory, too.

Besides, that first meeting isn’t important. Not anymore.

Not when I got a second, a third, a hundredth, a millionth meeting with you.

Not when, every day, I get to meet you again. To sit with you, eat with you, laugh with you.

Not when, no matter what, I get to swim with you.

Every day, I get to meet you again.

And it’s like meeting for the first time.

I met you the day we walked home from school the first time. You were so proud, to be allowed to walk unsupervised. It was cute, honestly, the way you tried to pretend you didn’t care that much. It was nice, to be able to hold your hand that way.

I met you the day the twins were born. The way your eyes glossed over when we were told we were both to be the best big brothers in the world? I don’t think I could ever forget it. One more new side of the ever-changing you.

I met you the day you almost drowned. Did you know I have nightmares about that sometimes, even now? I was so scared, to see something so important to you try to claim you as its own. That meeting taught me a lot. How terrifying the water really could be. How human you were, even if you tried to act otherwise. How much I cared.

I met you the day Nagisa appeared again and decided to start a swim club. I’m not sure I could explain how much that meant to me, to see how you started to open up again after shutting yourself away for so long.

I met you the day I almost drowned. I’m still so sorry, for scaring you like that. Knowing firsthand how it felt, I never would wish it on someone else. But, I think it did more good than harm in the end, right? That meeting taught me, too. How to face my fears, at least some. How human I am, though I tried to stay strong for everyone. How much you cared.

I met you the day that you lost to Rin. You lost a part of yourself, that day. An important part. Or, maybe, that was the day you realized you had been lost for a while. It hurt, the knowledge that I couldn’t help. But I had been helping, hadn’t I? You may have been lost in the dark, but I like to think I was like candle light. A soft, flickering flame that never once went out to leave you in the blackness.

I met you the day Rin came back to us, too. I met a you that shined so brightly I wanted to weep. I met the you that showed just how much had changed, but how little had at the same time.

I met you the day Rei discovered his butterfly. It was almost like the twins again, the way you seemed so proud without really showing it outwardly. If anyone else had looked, they wouldn’t have seen it. But I saw it, the shine you had in your eyes as we watched him go back and forth in his lane. It was there later, too, after we learned of his secret meetings with Rin. Out of all of us, you were the most proud of his progress, of all the hard work he put in to better himself for our sakes and not just his own.

I met you when it was time to face the future. I was afraid, that meeting. Afraid of losing you, of losing myself. Somehow, though, we both made it through. A little bit stronger, a little bit closer.

I’ve met you so many times.

Each one is important, don’t you agree?

The way I met you the first time may have been long since forgotten, but I’ll never forget how much meeting you has changed me.

I look forward to meeting you again. At the ramen place, our normal seats.

See you tomorrow, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Day one of MakoHaru week - "The way I met you"  
> It's before midnight where I live, it is still day one, I will fight you on this if it comes to it.  
> Anyway.  
> So? Love it? Hate it? Think something needs work?  
> I hope to hear your thoughts!  
> Until next time, happy reading~!


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